Code Geass: A Different 'Peace'
by pft980811
Summary: Humanity(the world) doesn't want a future. Now it wants Paradise. God, ever so compliant, sends the people their savior, but something is wrong. Very wrong. (Revised summary) Warnings: no the savior ain't an OC though there will be ocs, some Suzalulu in the far far FAR off future, and the return of many people. some you'll probably dislike. Oh and very confusing in first few chs.
1. Chapter 1

**Thank you everyone who is taking the time to read this story. Yes I plan on adding a bit of SuzakuxLelouch in the far of future. So that means no KaLulu, C. , or ShirleyxLelouch. I would also like to give out a special thanks to BlueWings900 for her help in making this story so much better, and longer, than it was…a month ago? Anyways I hope you all like it! (Almost everything in this chapter that is in italics is a flashback.)**

"_Rachel, hurry on back home! Your mother must be worried sick about you!"_

_I turned back to face the baker's wife. "I will ma'am! Thank you for the extra loaf of bread!" And with that I was off. _Oh Lord almighty! I hope father won't be too angry! But what if…no! I have to have faith that the Lord will have mercy on me today. I just have too! _And with that, I picked up the edge of my dress and hurried down the dirt path toward the manor I worked at._

My vision blurred as pictures and words flashed right before my eyes, only to slow after a while until they were at a pace in which I could see them clearly. Where it stopped, however, was a nightmare. My father always was abusive.

_As I fell to the floor, I realized that the Lord is planning something in the future to compensate for the pain that I will now seemed like the only reason since I have not done anything wrong. Or I at least didn't _think_ I did something wrong. _

"_So you think you could just saunter around here like you are the queen, huh? I asked you a question, girl! Answer me!" my father ordered me, making me cringe._

_But I didn't. I couldn't answer because I knew the moment I parted my dry lips, my stomach would feel the fury of his leather boot. Instead I simply cowered, trying to make myself smaller than I was. I wish I could have a father that wouldn't hurt me and a mother that wouldn't make me cry, but I knew that was impossible._

"_Tch! So…you don't want to say anything? Anything at all?"_

_I stayed quiet; not knowing what was going to happen and too scared to do anything else._

"_Then I guess we'll help you do just that. Middea (1)! Bring a needle and thread! Your sewing skills will be needed."_

_No…NO! I don't want to remember that!_ My heart pounded in my chest as fear overwhelms me. _Happier times! I must remember a happier time!_ Once again my vision blurs and I know that, for now, I'm safe within the memories of my…past…is it my past? I'm not entirely sure. For now though, I'm just happy to be with _him_.

"_You're quite beautiful, Rachel. Your hair is an even more beautiful blue than the sea itself."_

_Even though I knew the Earl of Prinston had a nasty 'habit' of leading any and all women to bed I couldn't help but feel like he really meant what he said to me. Sadly, I couldn't say anything. The tug of the thread reminded me of this. A thousand and one words wanted to be made known; a thousand and one thoughts that would never be heard._

"_Rachel."_

_I was quickly brought back out of my musings at the sound of his voice. Since I knew better than to even think of parting my lips, I merely gave him a look that showed my curiosity._

"_I love you."_

I could hear myself say 'I love you too,' but, as the breath that should have been words wisped past my lips, I knew he couldn't hear me. If he did hear then I wonder if things could have been different. I fought the urge to sigh in irritation as the familiar fog stretched over my vision and colors flashed before my eyes yet again. Stopping at a memory that I will hold forever.

_I could hear someone calling my name…_

"_Rachel! Rachel! Who did this to you!?" it hurt to move whatever was left of my lips, but I knew that I had to talk to my beloved while I still had the chance._

"_Ian, I'm glad we can…finally talk to each other…"_

"_Don't move! I'll bring the family doctor so just-"I could feel my life's blood flow out of the knife wound under my breasts, just realizing that I will never get the chance to have children. I quickly hushed him before I took a deep breath._

"_Ian, I love you. Even after I found out that your family was an occult, I couldn't beat the thought of leaving you. Even when I found out that they were all planning on making me the sacrifice, I couldn't bring myself to regret meeting you. No matter what happened I kept falling in love with you all over again…" It slowly registered to me that I could no longer hear. I couldn't hear my love telling me not to die, so I trudged on, hoping that Ian would be listening to me._

"_I will be reborn…and in that life I will fall in love with you over and over. I'll keep…" the world was getting darker "…falling in love…" and the last thing I saw "…with…" was scared blue eyes… "You…"_

This was starting to get confusing. I couldn't tell whether the images and colors flashing before me were connected or not. The few images that caught my eye always fled before I could focus on them. And then one image stuck. This image contained both a boy and girl. _Why do I feel so…shy?_

_As Milly introduced me to...to...what was his name again?_

"_Lelouch. Lelouch Lamperouge. A pleasure to finally meet you, Ms. Fenette."_

_Lelouch, I could only come up with one single coherent thought. _Have I met him before? _I didn't know what part about him was familiar. I didn't know if it was his eyes or hair or his skin color or even his body structure but something was…familiar._

"_Hello? Anybody home? Shirley?" Oh! That's right! I was having a (one-sided) conversation with Milly and Lelouch._

"_Oh! I'm sorry Madame Pres! Hi my name is Shirley! What's your name? Oh wait! You already answered that. You said your name was Lelouch right? I'm sorry! I guess I was distracted! You know that has always been my problem! That and talking too much. Am I annoying you Lulu? Oh! Is it okay if I call you 'Lulu'? I just think 'Lulu' fits you perfectly! But if you-_

…**Where…Where am I?**

_want to then…yeah." I finished lamely with a small blush._

For a moment…all I saw was darkness. Everything was pitch black as opposed to the white that could usually be seen past the visions and words. Just as I was going to start calling out, everything became washed in gray. A gloomy gray; a depressing gray.

_The rain was pouring but I didn't feel a single drop. I didn't even realize that Lulu was in front of me until I heard him speak. "I'm sorry I was late. I was sure you'd already left. Anyway never mind that. Come on; let's go someplace to get out of the rain now."_

Lulu…Lulu is smart, isn't he? He should know the answer right?

"_Lulu tell me…Zero…he fights for the weak doesn't he?"_

"_What? Yeah well that's what he says."_

…**Why…is it…so dark?**

"_Then…" Oh God. "Then why did he kill my father?"_

_I didn't see the look on his face but, even if I had, I wouldn't have understood why he looked so shocked then guilty. Instead, I started rambling._

"_You know my father…was so gentle. He never ever hurt me." A strange thought came to me the moment after I said that. _Well at least not this father_. "He didn't do anything wrong. But he was buried alive. He couldn't breathe." A sob escaped me without realizing it. "Why? Why did my father have to die!? I…I don't want this! No! Please Lulu! Help me!"_

_And with that I wrapped my arms around his neck and I kissed him._

_If I had opened my eyes and watched him…I would have seen his eyes widen with disbelief, shock, sadness and a tinge of anger even as he tentatively wrapped his arms around my waist._

_Maybe it was because I had stolen his first kiss that belonged to someone else…but it is too late for what ifs._

As I left that memory, I began to feel a lump in my throat. I was so focused on pushing that rock like lump down that I wasn't able to focus on the flashing colors.

_Imagine my surprise when I found a boy with sand colored hair, Rolo my mind supplied, calling out to Lelouch at the mall where the Black Knights were supposedly attacking._

Even though I was in the same memory, everything just froze. And then I saw Rolo stalk forward. It felt as if the whole world except Rolo was frozen. No sound was made…which was strange. One would have at least heard the clacking sound of Rolo's shoes as they drew closer to me.

**Why is it so quiet?**

As the image faded, a gunshot disturbed the most disturbing silence I had ever heard. The next memory seemed to be a result of that gunshot.

"_Shirley!" I could hear my name being called but…I didn't have the energy to move. So I didn't. I couldn't tell whether or not it was Lulu…I'm scared._

"_Shirley who did this to you?" it was him._

"_Lulu, I'm glad we can talk at the very end..." He looked scared. He looked scared for me. For a brief moment I was relieved that I was the one dying and not Lulu. He didn't deserve to die so young even if he has killed people._

"_Don't say that! It's not the end. I'll call a doctor so just-"_

_I grabbed the hand that had his phone with energy I didn't know I had. Then I started to say something that sounded vaguely familiar…like I had said it before. And it still held true._

"_Ever since my memories came back, I've been feeling very afraid. A teacher who wasn't a teacher. Friends who didn't have memories to share. Everyone was just…__**lying. **__I felt as though-the whole world was spying on me. That's the world you've been fighting all by yourself isn't it? All alone. So that's why I-why I wanted to be someone who would at least be truthful to you." The look on his face seemed…regretful._

"_Shirley…"_

"_Lulu," I began when I realized that my next words were…for someone else. "I love you._

_Even knowing you caught my father in all this, I simply couldn't hate you. Even though you made me forget everything, I still fell in love with you. Even though my memories were tampered with, I kept falling in love with you all over again…" I was getting…tired…_

"_No! Shirley! You can't die!" _Why are you crying, Ian? Don't be sad no-

"_No matter how many times I am reborn, I'll keep falling in love with…you…an. I suppose that it's simply fate…"_

_My vision started to get blurry so I completely missed the movement Lelouch made towards his eye…_Since when did I stop calling him 'Lulu'…? _"No! Don't die! I order you not to die!"_

_I hoped the one I meant these last words to could hear them…"So is that okay then? Lelouch? And as I'm reborn, I'll fall in love with-"_**…I…**_ "-over and over…I'll keep-" _**I can't… **_"…in love…with…you-" _**I CAN'T BREATHE!**

…

My first conscious act was panic. I could open neither my eyes to see nor my mouth to scream. As I moved my tongue, I realized with horror…my mouth was sealed shut with thread. And I felt, with my tongue and pain at the lead of the investigation, the thread pierce through the roof of my mouth to god knows where.

I was now terrified. Then the strangest thing happened. Tears fell from my sealed eyelids even though, as far as I knew, I was not crying.

And then…I blinked. Or at least I believe I blinked. It was so dark I couldn't tell the difference between my surroundings and the back of my eyelids. And I kept on crying. The thing was my tears…didn't feel like tears. They felt…thicker.

As I shifted my jaws a bit to see how much I could move, the threads in my mouth began to snap by their selves and it took practically everything in me to start heaving up everything inside my body. That was until I started to feel something, or things, move-grow inside me. After feeling that everything, whatever 'everything' is, came up and out. Or passed through me to my…lower entrances. I was slowly suffocating. I felt like I was just pulling in air but not breathing. After vomiting the disgusting stuff out, I realized I could move once again. When I tried moving my arm I was startled to find out how tired I was. So with my face and chest wet with whatever was in my stomach, I went to sleep. I slept with ignorance to the fact that, even as I breathed air in, my chest still did not move and the air that came out was not carbon dioxide. It was almost like I was a corpse.

…

As I slowly woke up, I realized how much my entire body ached. I moved my hand toward my face to remove the thread that was threaded through my mouth. Or I tried to.

That very same hand was stopped cold when it hit the roof of…where ever I was. I started moving my legs and arms around. At my sides, above and below me. I, once again, was heart stopping-ly terrified. I started pounding, kicking and scratching at the low hanging ceiling, tearing one of my fingernails in the process.

"Help! Can anyone hear me!? Hello!? Please! Someone help me! Anyone! Please!" Without realizing it, sometime during my begging and violent attacks towards the roofing, I had begun to cry that stuff again. And then I came to the only truth I could find.

"Oh god…" I breathed. "I'm going to die…aren't I?" I asked no one in particular. After that, I fainted.

~John P.O.V~

"I don't like this."

"Oh come on, John! We both need the money and we can't afford to wait any longer!"…I seriously did **not** want to do this.

"But this feels wrong! I don't think we should dig up some random person's cof-"TUMP_!_

"…found it." And with that, I watched with disgust as Nathan eagerly pulled the dirt encrusted coffin lid open. And it looked like something straight out of a horror movie.

There was a…familiar, yet beautiful, looking girl inside. Or at least…it looked like it used to be a beautiful girl. Her orange-brown hair looked like bed-hair. As if she had moved around a bit. Her eyelids were closed but there was embalming (!?) fluid leaking out from underneath them. The embalm fluid and blood (!) trickled from her mouth. Which was hanging open. I lost my dinner when I saw the inside. Sutures were cut but still threaded through her gums and roof of her mouth. Even Nathan looked sick.

The fluids were in her hair, chest, neck, and dress. The fabric under her lower body was soiled which led me to believe that she must have been really scared. But what sickened, scared, and angered me the most were the scratches on the inner lid of the coffin. The torn fabric and the half-inch claw marks made me want to murder the bastard who put her through this cruel torture.

"Poor girl. She must have been terrified spit less. She probably struggled the whole time. To her last breath." Good thing he didn't make some smart-ass remark. I would have killed him.

"How could…" I simply couldn't get out what I wanted to say. At least not yet.

"John…some people are just plain sick. In the end they all get what is coming to them. I mean just look at the Demon!"

"BUT HOW CAN ANYONE PUT AN INNOCENT GIRL THROUGH SUCH TORTURE! It's…it's just plain…evil…!" Nathan stared at me with sadness evident in his eyes. Like he knew what I was going to say next and it broke his heart to see someone who he regards as a brother feel this way. With tears making themselves known, I said what I truly believed. "There is no god."

And the moment I finished that sentence, we heard a gasp below us.

~Original P.O.V~

I could see little lights. Above me. And a giant crescent shaped light. That was when I saw (I could see!) two men staring at me in horror and shock. I did the only two things I could have possibly done at that moment. I cried and begged.

"P-please…! Please help me!" I tried to lift my face up but I wasn't strong enough. That was when the youngest one snapped out of his stupor.

"Come on, Nathan! Let's help her!"

"Hold on, John! She's probably hurt!" And that is how I found out that the black haired, green-eye man was called Nathan and the tall platinum blonde haired man with beautiful sky blue eyes was called John.

"Nathan! After you're done, grab the stuff and throw it in the trunk! We need to take umm…what's your name?

That made me realize…

"I don't remember. I can't remember much of anything. Wait…!" John looked at me curiously which made me blush.

"Call me…call me Rachel. Rachel Saphir."

~John P.O.V~

"So how is she?"

I looked up to see Nathan halfway finished filling in Rachel's grave. I ran my fingers through my hair with a sigh. "She's fine. A little dazed at most."

"Well it is better than shock. I mean it must have been at least a little traumatic to be in a coffin buried six feet under with no way out-"

"You are **not **helping."

"Okay. Okay. Let's just finish this soon. It's already 3:00 and the guards are going to shift at 3:30. It'll take ten minutes to make it through the graves and the gate."

"Yeah. Yeah."

…

As we were picking up our equipment I happened to look at Rachel's headstone. What it said was very surprising.

**HERE LIES**

**SHIRLEY FENETTE**

**7/9/00-3/18/18**

"**NOTHING IS UNFORGIVABLE"**

There were three things that I realized after reading the headstone. One was that Rachel's real name was Shirley Fenette. The second was now I knew why she seemed so familiar. I remember watching the news about a terrorist attack on some mall. The only casualty was the death of a girl. A girl named Shirley Fenette. The third was that a part of the headstone was wrong on two parts. She couldn't have died in March because that would mean that she has been buried alive for six months. The other was the one that really got me in a bad mood. I had to clench my fists to keep from destroying everything around me. _There are some things in life that really are unforgivable._

~Original P.O.V~

As I waited for John and Nathan to finish whatever they were doing at the food mart that the gas station had, I watched everything with wide eyes through the glass window…well anything I could see with the little amount of moonlight that poured through the clouds and the tint the glass had. Truthfully, I was scared that, the moment I blinked, I would end up back in that pitch black cage. It was a bit terrifying to be in the car. I felt like I didn't have enough room to move. _Stop it! There is enough room for you to be comfortable. Just breathe. Focus on something else._ As I looked around the car, a newspaper caught my eye.

_**THE DEMON IS DEAD!**_

The picture on the front page saddened me for some reason. I felt actual tears falling for the first time in what felt like a long time. The picture depicted a young looking boy with black hair and strange white clothing lying on, what looked like, a stage. He looked like he was sleeping and I would have thought he was asleep if not for the title and the giant bloodstain on his white clothes. There was also a masked being above the boy. I couldn't tell if it was a boy or girl but what I could tell was that I hated him. I hated him because I _knew_, I just knew, that he killed this 'demon.' I looked at the date in one of the corners of the newspaper. Sept. 6, 2018 A.T.B. According to the article the boy had died on the 5th of September.

_Knock! Knock! Knock!_

Startled, I dropped the newspaper to the floor of the vehicle. I glared at John as he insisted I get out of the car. Couldn't he see how dead tired I was? Too tired to even stand, that's for sure. I sighed at the boyish grin he gave me; I would have to get out at some point. Allowing John to take my hand, I followed him to the front of the car where he stopped and looked at me.

"Hey, Rachel. Can I ask you a question?" Well this is strange, I thought as a car's headlights illuminated John's face.

"Sure. As long as I can ask you a question in return."

"Okay…Are you sure Rachel Saphir is your real name?" _Oh. I guess I had nothing to worry about._

"I'm pretty sure. How? I don't know but I remember it is so it must be true. Now my turn…What is today's date?"

The look on his face was…special. _Hmmm, I guess he was expecting something else._ With an annoyed huff, John answered. "September 7, 2018 A.T.B." John then looked at me curiously as if expecting me to explain why I had asked. My reply was simple.

"Oh."

As I watched my first sunrise in my new life, I thought, _So…He died two days ago. _And then I cried for the boy whom I felt was a very important person in my old life. I cried for what was and what could have been. I cried while I still held my future in my hand. It apparently had callouses.

**Comments:**

**Middea is pronounced middy-ah but you can call her Medea. **

**There are a lot of important clues in this prologue, if it can be called that, so I would keep an eye out for them.**

**Facts:**

**It is the start of my first ever story.**

**This thing was 8 pages long.**

**A total of 3,836 words.**

**Please leave a review! Constructive criticism allowed! Flame me only if it is something that bugs the sh*t out of you.**

**~Pft980811**


	2. Chapter 2

**Here is (technically) Chapter one. The last was a "prologue." I'd like to once again thank Bluewings900 for editing. And because I forgot in the last chapter:**

**Disclaimer: I own absolutely nothing but the plot and the few known and probable future OCs.**

**Chapter One: A New World Part I**

_Major time skip of about seventeen years so the year is now 2035 a.t.b._

_**~Claude~**_

_What…what is all this…_

Explosions. People. Planets. Light. A bird. All black or all white. No in-between. Then…gradually…color found its way in. The birds would shine red. The people would gain skin and hair color. A girl with bright green hair burning in a bright red fire; her scream went by unheard. A pink bird flying through the sky with a rainbow following its every move. An entire city along with people on fire while the sky was black from the smoke. A pair of wide green eyes. A white mask with strange red lines all over it; replaced by a plain white mask with an eerie smile. This in turn became an actual face. This one had black hair that looked soft to the touch and had a rather sad aura about him. Wait. Isn't that-?

**Lulla…**

_-_my face!?

**Lulla!**

Then I woke with a start.

…

I awoke to the sight of my mother's face in my own.

"Lulla, are you awake?" she whispered. Mother leaned back as I sat up, rubbing blearily at my eyes, I smiled sleepily at her and replied with: "I am now."

She gave me an excited grin. "Well hurry up and get dressed. We're going out. Make sure to wear your blonde wig and blue contacts."

By the time the door shut behind her, I finally understood what she meant.

I wanted to shout, dance, and cry with joy, but I held on tightly to my emotions. Yet no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't keep a, most likely, stupid grin off my face as I changed. _Hmm…what should I wear?_ "Look at me! I'm a weirdo!" I muttered to myself as I tossed a shirt over my shoulder. None of these would do at all. "They're all too suspicious looking!"

I was so busy wondering about what to wear that the memories of that awful nightmare slowly faded from my now busy mind.

…

In the end, I settled for a blue t-shirt, jeans, white running shoes (which I carried in my hand), a black hoodie, and a dark blue cap. No one would recognize me, especially not with my wig and contacts in place. _Especially_, since there are only three people in the entire world who even knew I existed and only two people even knew that I was leaving the house for the first time. As I left my room, a disturbing thought came to me.

_Does Dad approve? Wait…does he even know!?_

I almost face palmed at the sheer stupidity of my questions. _Of course he doesn't! He would never approve of something like this! Oh god, we are so dead when he finds out. He'll skin me alive, and then put me in a giant blender and push-_I then noticed a familiar brown furred body sprinting towards me at full speed.

"Hey…Suzie-chan. Wait. Hold on. No, calm-calm down. No!" I let out a small, yet unmanly, yelp as Suzie-chan's furry body pushed me down to the ground and proceeded to lick my face.

"Alright. Alright! Suzie-chan!" I whispered fiercely, thanking any and every deity I could think of for the fact that Dad was a heavy sleeper.

As soon as I felt her licks slow down, I used every bit of my strength to shove Suzie-chan off me. She probably only felt a light push but got my point either way. As I stood up, I started a whisper to her. "Suzie-chan, guess what? I am going outside! I want you to be a good girl, okay? Don't wake Dad up either."

"Oh you don't have to worry about that."

I looked up to see mother walking towards me holding her brown boots in one hand as well. She wore white pants, a green t-shirt, with a brown jacket over it. She also had her blonde wig and blue contacts on. "Why not?" I said as we made our way slowly to the front of the house.

She turned and grinned at me while she held up Suzie-chan's leash.

"Because yesterday night I slipped some crushed Eszopiclone into your father's water at dinner. That and Suzie-chan's coming with us."

"…"

"…what?"

"Wow…just…wow, mom."

…

After turning the alarm system back on and locking the main entrance, we put on our shoes, attached Suzie-chan to her leash, and headed to a small trail of to the side of the great stairwell that led down to the open streets. This was actually the closest I had ever gotten to the outside world and now I was going past it. As I passed by the trees I took in the feel of the bark. The sounds of the leaves rustling in the wind. For some reason, it felt necessary to keep the silence and there was no awkwardness in it. Slowly, but surely, we started to hear the sounds of civilization. It got louder the closer we got to the end of the trail. A few moments later the forest around us got thicker and was dark compared to the small bright opening that would lead all three of us to the rest of the world. _This is it. I get to see the world…or at least a part of it. _

"Alright Lulla." I turned to face Mother, my eyes too wide to be comfortable but I was too nervous to care. Mother let out a sad sigh and her eyes shined in the bright light. I closed my eyes and leaned into the hand that was placed on my face. I listened as Mother talked about how to act while she "fixed" my appearance. "You'll need to act like you've done this before, okay? Or at least like a tourist. Try to speak English only. And keep your head up! And don't forget to keep your money close, okay? And-Lulla? Lulla are you listening to me!?"

At that, I gave a small chuckle. "Yes Mother. I need to act like a tourist, speak English, keep my head up, and my money close." I gave her my warmest smile. "I'll be fine, Mother. You'll see! I won't get hurt. Heck what are the chances of me getting mugged?"

She sighed. "I know. I just…I worry."

I quickly hugged her then held her at arm's length. "I'll make it through this alive. I know because I have you and Suzie-chan with me! Now come on!"

And without completely realizing it, I stepped out of the cover the trees and bushes provided and onto the streets that I would watch from above. It took me a while to realize that Mother was once again beside me. I was too busy staring at the world around me.

Even though it was just a few houses, I was in a state of wonder. I was snapped out of my amazement when I heard my name being called.

"Lulla!"

"Oh! Yes Mother?"

She gave me a loving but firm push down the sidewalk.

"You can gawk on the train."

"Train!? We're going on a train!?"

"Yup! I have two tickets right here!" She held them up in the air. In my state of shock, I, ungentlemanly, snatched them from her hands. I held them up in the light with one hand while my other kept an over excited Suzie-chan from running off on us.

"When did you get them!? _Where_ did you get them!?"

"Haha! Funny you should ask that. Well I'll tell you when we get on the train. If we get on. At this pace, we'll never make it."

"What!?" And with that I took off running with both Mother and Suzie-chan ahead of me.

…

"Hah. Hah. You…you…you tricked me!?" I was dying. I was dying and my own mother was just laughing at me while she rubbed Suzie-chan down.

"Well I had to give you a workout somehow! You can barely walk an hour on the treadmill. And that is when it's set at its lowest level possible! You need to take care of your health Lulla! I mean look at you!" I didn't need to lift my head to know that she was pointing at me. "You look like you're about to die!

"Thanks Mother. Really. Thanks," I said sarcastically.

"No problem! Now come on. Let's sit down while we wait for the train."

_Thank God!_ It would turn out that mother would make me start running at 11 when the train comes at 12. _I really should start blocking all the channels with Milly Ashford in them. She is a bad influence._

My breath had almost returned to its usual pace by the time the train came in. as I walked in, after putting Suzie-chan in the pet holding area (which I am still vehemently against. The bruised pride of one of the train attendants is evidence of this) I was once again awed by my surroundings. The seats were colored red and felt soft and plush. The dark wood shined in the light and the window was huge! To me, it was a cabin fit for a king…even if it was for the lowest classes. As mother thanked the attendant (I'm still going to write a letter to their manager!) I sat down on the plush seating and stared out the window. If I had looked up, I would have noticed Mother watching me with a smile that could only be described as affectionate. At that moment, I had remembered my earlier questions.

"Hey Mother? Where did you get those tickets?" She looked up at me with a grin far too wide for her story to be an innocent one. _Oh boy._

"Well…you see…a few weeks ago, I had told your father that I wanted to go on a trip for two to Tokyo. He probably thought it was for me and him. I guess he'll just have to live with the disappointment," she finished with a shrug.

My face was probably showing my horror at the idea. Mother simply stared at me with a bright grin lighting up her face. After what seemed like an hour, I closed my mouth, took a deep breath, and said "I really am going to die today, aren't I?"

"Of course not!"

I shuddered as Mother's mood went from bright and cheerful to dark and menacing. Her next statement reminded me of how scary the woman before me could be.

"John wouldn't dare hurt you."

"O-okay…" as I turned back to look out the window, I felt a light shift in my chest. _I must be getting nervous._ I completely ignored the bad feeling I was getting.

_**~Omniscient~ **_

_Somewhere in Germany_

A young looking woman, maybe in her late teens or early twenties, walked out of an apartment building. She had short black hair and black rimmed glasses over her cat-like yellow eyes. She wore a short German waitress dress on with the logo of the town pub, The Shepherd. As the woman walked down the sidewalk, a local baker yelled out: "Hallo Frau Campbell! Wie geht es lhen heute abend?" (_Hello Ms. Campbell! How are you this evening?_)

The woman kept walking, but raised her arm and, with a smile, said: "Guten abend Herr Ludwig! Mir geht es gut, wie uber sie?" (_Good evening Mr. Ludwig! I am doing fine, how about you?_) Mr. Ludwig smiled warmly at the golden eyed girl.

"Wicklich gut eigentlich! Ubrigens habe ich ein paar extra Kekse! Mochten Sie uberhaupt!?" (_Really well actually! By the way, I made a few extra biscuits! Would you like any!?_) As she neared the end of the street, the black-haired beauty turned a bit to show an apologetic look on her face.

"Sorry, aber ich bin fast zu spat zur arbeit schon, obwohl wenn sie immer noch rund 12, dann vielleicht offnen…" (Sorry, but I am practically late for work; though, if you're still open around 12, then maybe…) The old baker gave a small chuckle to this.

"Ich werde einfach legen sie es bei The Shepherd.!" (I'll just drop it off at The Shepherd!) As the waitress turned the corner, she yelled over her shoulder: "Vielen Dank!" (Thanks!)

Then the cat-eyed girl thought to herself, _I'll need those. Especially since there's no pizza. Hm…maybe I should start a pizza parlor here. That may be exciting enough. Yeah…I'll do that. I just need to get through a few more years of working at The Shepherd and then I'll have enough for that one little shop. I'll call it C's Pizza World._ Though, the moment she walked through the doors of The Shepherd, the waitress knew that it was those next "few years" were going to be long. Then she noticed a male figure hiding in the shadows near one of The Shepherd's many windows. She made a small smile.

_I guess G.G. had nothing else to do._

Maybe the years won't be so long.

…

_Somewhere in the Holy Empire of Britannia_

"Lloyd! Give that back! It isn't yours!" yelled a woman with indigo blue hair to a man with light purple hair.

"Ah, but I am going adopt it so it will be mine~!" The purple haired man danced around the laboratory with absolute glee in his pale blue eyes. The indigo haired woman then turned stormy greyish blue eyes to a black haired woman with honey brown eyes. She bowed; her stormy eyes were replaced by apologetic ones.

"I am so sorry about Lloyd, Ms. Lubie! I'm sure he'll give you your blueprints back. Right Lloyd?" even with her cheerful smile, one could tell that if Lloyd Asplund did not do as he was told, then not even an expert would be able to identify his remains.

"Ha-ha! It's fine Ms. Croomy. Oh! And please. Call me Mariel. I feel old when I'm called 'Ms. Lubie.'"

The bluenette looked surprised before saying "O-okay! But if I have to call you 'Mariel,' then you have to call me Cecile!" After a moment of silence they broke out with grins so wide it is a wonder how their faces didn't crack in half.

"Alright, I have finished copying your design and now I'll modify it to make it even better~!" Lloyd made a show of handing the blueprints back to Mariel while Cecile merely smiled. As soon as Mariel had a good hold of it, Lloyd ran to the door of the laboratory with a nervous smile-"Well if that's all…I'llbegoingnow."-and quickly disappeared.

Cecile turned back to the honey eyed woman. "Now that that is over, I have some tests that I want to perform on some of the newer knightmare frames. Want to help?"

"Sure!"

And with that, the two woman began to talk about mundane things and walk towards the hanger nearly filled with the newest generation of knightmare frames.

_**~Claude~**_

After getting off the train and staring at everything (I really need to get over all this "civilization amazement"), I was finally able to really observe things. Like how crowded it was. Or how may escape routes there were. Or how many places a person could hide a weapon. When I turned to look at my mother and Suzie-chan, I realized that I was the only jumpy one. I loosened up a bit. Keywords: a bit. It must have been a really tiny "a bit" because I jumped a foot in the air when my mother put her hand on my shoulder.

As I turned to look at her she said: "Hey, you don't look so good, Lulla. How about…we go to a park?" I quickly nodded and followed her down and across some streets. When we finally did make it to the park, I nearly sighed in happiness.

"Mother, can we sit on a bench for a bit?" She laughed a bit.

"Sure, why not?" And with that, we sat down and enjoyed the sun on our backs while observing the children and couples and pets that would pass by. Everything felt peaceful. Except for that one uneasy feeling. Then we noticed that, as more time passed, more and more people were migrating to the park. What got me up and following the flow of people was the two words on everyone's lips. Extreme Karaoke. As in the show where, if you miss one note or one dance step, you have to literally pay up money or have to do something really embarrassing. Most people would rather pay from how embarrassing the acts would be. When we got to a huge clearing, I was thankful that I wasn't the only one with wide eyes. There was a huge stage and hundreds of people were already there. Most were standing but those closest to the stage had either blankets or chairs set up.

"Lulla!"

I turned towards the sound of my name. Suzie-chan was trotting beside my mother who had a relieved angry look. She lightly smacked me on my arm and said "Don't go running off on me again!" then stared at the sight before us.

"Mom," I stared with wide eyes, "can we stay and watch? Please?" She tried to look away but it was too late. I had her trapped.

"Pretty please?"

"…fine." Check and mate.

Soon the hostess of the popular show, Extreme Karaoke, was on the stage and giving announcements and listing off the rules of the game. I didn't pay much attention and much of the information flew over my head. I did catch on that they were doing this in celebration for Zero Day which is today apparently. I tried to remember to ask Mother what that was all about but I immediately forgot all about it as soon as people started to sing the newest hit singles. At that moment, I was completely grateful for that old broken radio we had found in the storehouse near our home because I was able to know what songs they were singing and was able to sing along. Though there were some songs I didn't even know existed, I was able to enjoy the concert. It was half an hour before sundown when the bands decided it was time for a break. Or so the hostess said.

"I HOPE EVERYONE IS HAVING A GOOD TIME." At this everyone, myself included, screamed "yes."

"ALRIGHT THAT'S WHAT I WANNA HEAR!" Once again, we all screamed "yes."

"OKAY! OKAY! WELL I HATE TO BE THE BEARER OF BAD NEWS, BUT IT HAS TO BE DONE. OUR AWESOME BAND NEEDS TO TAKE A BREAK-" We all started "awing." "BUT! WE'LL BE BACK IN ABOUT TWENTY MINUTES SO HANG TIGHT! WE HAVE TWENTY-FIVE CONCESION STANDS AROUND THE PERIMETER SO IF YOU NEED A SNACK OR REFRESHMENT YOU CAN GO AND ORDER SOMETHING. I REPEAT-!"

I turned to Mother and asked "Do you want to go buy something? I can get it for you."

"Yeah, but let's go together so you don't get lost." I smiled. Even though the probability of me getting lost was zero, she was still worried about me.

"Okay. Let's go."

We had to push, shove, weave, and dodge through the crowd to get to the back of the line of the nearest stand. "Well now we have to wait." So we started to wait…for about five minutes.

Now that I think about it, Suzie-chan's vicious bark should have been warning enough, but no. I had to feel a (familiar) rough hand on my shoulder and see with terrified eyes the face of the Devil himself to realize Dad had found us.

"No now we go home."

"…"

"…Claude…Run."

…Mother only uses my first name when she is being dead serious about something…

…_I am so dead…_

_**~Omniscient~**_

_Somewhere in Britannia_

A blonde haired man with light purple eyes swiftly entered a dark room and quickly locked the metal sliding door. It was dark inside the room save for a single corner. The man fully turned to said corner and bowed to the dark shape sitting next to the only light source in the dark, gloomy room.

"Sir, the secret UFN meeting will commence in one hour. Empress Nunnally vi Britannia has arrived along with her guest, Lady Kaguya Sumeragi. They wish for Zero's presence as soon as possible."

Silence ensued for a good five minutes before it was broken by a ragged intake of breath followed by: "Schneizel…how is Mariel?" At this question, the prime minister raised an eyebrow.

"Ms. Lubie? The last I heard was that she made it safely to the base in-"

"That's good. Very good. And…have you…?" Now Schneizel just plain sighed.

"Sir, if I may be blunt, it has been almost sixteen years since we started to investigate the disappearance of Ms. Fenette's corpse." If there was more light in the room, one would see a very light tan hand clench thin air. "There is a zero point one percent chance it is even in one piece so it is unlikely we can get it all back and in its rightful place. And a zero percent chance of even finding the culprit responsible for her missing corpse. Maybe if we had investigated earlier, then we may have had a chance but now…

"I am sorry, Sir, but we are simply wasting our time with a body that can no longer feel pain instead of using said time to find out how to deal with this rebellious group of loyalists."

All was quiet before a cold "Leave" was said.

Schneizel simply bowed and turned to leave. Right before he was completely out the door, Schneizel heard the shadow say: "Make sure to cancel all investigations into Ms. Fenette's disappearance and redirect it towards the loyalists. Also, write and send an apology letter to Milly Ashford, Rivalz Cardemonde, Kallen Kozuki, and Nina Einstein."

"Yes, Master Zero."

Once out in the hall Schneizel finally realized something.

_It seems that Master Zero has been drinking again_.

…

_Somewhere else in Britannia_

The sun had been gone a while now but the occupants of a certain orange farm still remained of the two occupants was a male with teal hair and orange eyes. He was busy making sure the alarm system was on and there was nothing suspicious looking out in the orchards. The other was a thirty-two year old woman with light pink hair and reddish pink eyes. She was wide awake because she was scared. She sat with her knees against her chest in a corner of her bed with her back against the wall and a blanket over her shoulders. She took a quick glance at the digital clock beside her bed. 11:52. The last time she had checked was at 11:50. Two minutes ago.

After what must have felt like hours, the woman heard her door creak open. She was quick to react. If the teal haired man hadn't had quicker reflexes than the pinkette, he would have had a mercenary survival knife sticking out of his back.

"Anya. Anya please calm down. It's okay." He carefully took the rather sharp knife from the grown up former Knight of Six and placed it back into its hiding place.

"S-sorry, Jeremiah. I-I thought you were…another…" Jeremiah nodded understandingly. Over the years, people had found their hiding place and, mostly assassins and the like, have tried (and failed) to murder them both because Jeremiah had been under His service. After the second attempt, Jeremiah and Anya hid all sorts of weapons all over their rather large home. All ranging from small pocket knives to semi-automatics and hand held grenades to two old Gloucesters, which are hidden under the floor of the old barn. They even made secret tunnels underneath the entire plantation that are connected with a Thought Elevator at the center. It had been discovered shortly after they had moved in and only because Anya had fallen into it.

"It's okay. Everything is going to be just fine." Jeremiah continued to soothe Anya until he felt her heart go back to a calmer beat. "Anya…" He waited until she looked him in the eye. "Tell me what happened."

Anya herself was silent before she took in a deep breath and let it out.

"I…I'm starting to hear things."

"…things?" He didn't look judgmental, merely…confused.

"Yes-well more like voices." A light blush began to spread on Anya's face.

"Well…what are the voices saying?"

"I don't know!"

Jeremiah carefully studied the now thirty-two year old woman before him. Her breathing was beginning to become irregular, her hair was all over the place, and she had unfocused eyes. "Alright, so you don't know what they are saying. Then can you tell me what you think they are saying?" Anya seemed to calm down and think it through a bit after hearing the male's softer tone. After some thought, she shook her head.

"They-the voices that is-are too quiet. All I can hear are murmurs. Like-like there's a wall between me and them. All I can understand is that…they're searching…for…something…" The pinkette looked at Jeremiah's face carefully; trying to get an idea of his thoughts on the matter. At first he seemed thoughtful but was surprised to see his brow crease in annoyance.

"You might be hearing things from the Thought Elevator. Maybe there are people who are looking for something?" Anya felt her eyes widen_. Why didn't I realize that?_ Jeremiah's next statement left her mystified. "Truth be told, I have been feeling-how should I put this…? Vibrations? Waves?

Anya raised an eyebrow to this.

"Well either way, I have been feeling something in the air and it is starting to irritate me."

All was silent once again as they contemplated the possibility of this theory. As 1:20 AM rolled around the silence was carefully broken by Jeremiah who was saying his goodnight. As he turned to leave he was stopped by a hand on his arm. When he looked back he saw Anya looking at anything but him.

"C-can you…stay here…for tonight…at least until I fall asleep?" He gave Anya a gentle smile.

He then gave her a mock bow before saying: "As you wish, my lady."

The moment he settled beside her, Anya curled up into his side and tried to fall asleep. After a while, Jeremiah noticed that, even though she had her eyes closed, Anya still wasn't able to sleep. After spending a few minutes of thinking up a solution, an idea came to Jeremiah and he wanted to test his theory. Jeremiah then proceeded to activate his Geass Canceler and the room was quickly engulfed in a blue sphere. The results were almost instantaneous. As soon as she was touched by the sphere, Anya stopped twitching and turning. Not long after that, she finally fell into a deep sleep. Jeremiah simply stared in surprise.

_Hmm…I guess my Geass Canceler can work on anything that is related to Geass._

For the rest of the night, Jeremiah simply reminisced about the "glory" days of when he was in the army, was, served under Him, and began his orange farm career while taking care of a, at the time, fifteen year old girl. Jeremiah would continue to dislike the peace that had been brought by Him for the masses of ungratefuls until he hears the horrid news. Then he will be wishing these quiet days were once again here.

For now, he simply kept the woman that he loved as a daughter safe from whatever she feared in his arms.

**Comments:**

**Hope you liked! Lulla is a nickname for Claude. I might explain why in part two or the next chapter. Probable action in the next part of the chapter. Not sure when this will be updated again, hopefully sometime in November. Have an awesome Halloween! And please Review!**


	3. Chapter 3

_**(if you want to find out what all the elephants/dumbos *I think there was a comment about the Lion king* are about, skip to my comment area below at the end) **_**To those who actually read the Author's Note: you'll maybe recognize at least two characters of code geass. But only if you know every character. And a part of Claude's dream was a premonition. (There might be mistakes, sorryif they annoy you.)**

**Disclaimer: I (sadly) own absolutely nothing. And I hope you like.**

**Chapter one: A New World Pa****rt II AND DUMB****O**

_**~Claude~ ELEPHANTS**_

As I ran through the crowd, I could hear my name being angrily called over the shouts of bystanders. By…my dad.

"CLAUDE!" _Yup, that is most definitely Dad._ My breath was already ragged even after five minutes of running. I realized could use a little break, so I quickly came up with a plan that would probably save my life. I passed directly through a group of teens, both Japanese and Britannian alike, making sure to (use my 'special' smirk on the ladies and) be as polite as possible as I said: "Hey, sorry okay to bother you guys, but my dad is really mad about me coming to the concert since I'm technically grounded. Do you think you can distract him for me while I sneak away?"

The most of the group started to laugh while some of them gave me…weird looks. Then, finally, a Britannian boy with reddish looking hair and kind blue eyes (it was too dark to know for sure), nodded and said: "Okay, we'll probably give you enough time to reach the exit near the stage. You should take the path that goes to the pond and then follow the bike trail to the park exit."

I sighed with relief and gave them a grateful smile. "Thanks! You just helped save a life!" I was about to say more but then I heard: "CLAUDE!"

"Oops! Gotta go! See ya!" I yelped as I took off running

I heard the redhead give a small laugh and replied with, "Wouldn't want to be ya!"

When i turned to look back at my saviors, I felt a bit appalled when one of the Britannian guys wriggled his eyebrows at me and winked suggestively behind the group's back. He had brown eyes and orange hair with what looked like purple spikes near the scalp. I simply gave him my, what I like to call, Death Glare. It irked me when I saw him chuckle.

As I neared the area where people had set up their blankets, I started to hear Dad's angry shouts. It seemed that the group was doing a rather good job. Or at least I thought so until I hear an angry yell only a few yards away. I saw a terrifying sight. My dad was trying (and succeeding) in breaking away from the group and the entire crowd itself. _Shit! This is complete and utter shit!_ My eyes widened as I ran towards the stage at my line of thought. _Oh gosh Mother would be so mad if she heard me use that word! Well…I could always say that Dad said it. Well he technically did._ As I reached the shadows of the stage, a pretty good idea came to me if I do say so myself. I pressed my back against the shadow of the wall and held my breath.

The moment I saw Dad coming my way, I really started to get nervous and by the time he was a few feet away from me, I closed my eyes and started to pray even though I believed it futile. _Please! Please! Please! God, I'll do anything you say, just get me out of this situation alive!_

When I opened my eyes, I had expected to see my dad's face a few inches from my own but no. Instead I saw his back. I stared a bit, breath still held, and studied him. He wore his favorite brown leather jacket with some blue jeans and a pair of blue running shoes. Okay so not the most stylish type of outfit but it served its purpose. I quickly leaned back the moment I noticed him start to turn around and search for me. I heard my mother's yell being echoed by Suzie-chan's angry barks and I realized that Mother and Suzie-chan had either just arrived here or had followed Dad the entire time. I started to give a sigh of relief when they started to walk away only to have it cut short when I felt a hand on my shoulder.

I closed my eyes tightly and braced for death_. Oh gosh. I could see my headstone now. It would say __**Here Lies: Claude "Lullaby" Saphir. Born: May 7th, 2019 a.t.b. Died: September 7th, 2035 a.t.b. Died an honorable death (a.k.a. running and screaming from John Saphir.) "Live!"**__ Wait…why would I have live as my advice for life? Well it is pretty good advice for all the depressed people out there…oh, does it even matter!? I'm about to di-_I was then forced to turn around. Only to be met with a face full of breasts.

From between the two mounds of soft flesh, I heard a very cheerful "So this is where you have been hiding, Mr. Big-Bad-Kozuki! You're gonna be on stage in less than five minutes so we need to get you there pronto!" And with that, she released me but gave me no time to argue with her as she led me to the bottom of a small flight of stairs that led up onto the actual stage. I then realized what she meant. I started to panic.

"Wait! You got it all wrong! I'm not-" I was then interrupted by a finger on my lips.

"Oh hush up! You're not getting out of this one, mister! Mr. and Mrs. Kozuki both agreed for you to be today's guest singer and you are going to do it! That and you're already famous because you're the son of the great Red Queen, Kallen Kozuki! And your father was the Knight of Three and piloted the Tristan Divider! Oh gosh! I still think he is hot despite being 34 years old! Kyaaa~!" I ignored whatever she said after that squeaky shriek she gave. I then began to study who had, basically, kidnapped me. She was Britannian and had blonde hair that reached a bit past her shoulders with big grey eyes. And _very_ busty. She seemed…familiar. Like I had seen someone, or some ones, which look a lot like her.

What made me stop studying the strange girl was the fact that I was literally being shoved onto the stage. Next to the hostess. In front of hundreds of people. _Oh my f-ing Go-_

"AND HERE'S OUR NEXT CONTESTANT! WILL HE BE ABLE TO PULL OFF ALL THE NOTES AND STEPS?" In my state of shock, I failed to realize that everyone was screaming in excitement and the glowing floor of the stage started to light up erratically. What did get me going was that, right before the hostess gave me the mike and darted off the stage, I saw my parents trying to get backstage to get to me. I saw fear and worry in both their eyes. I then realized that I would have to play along or get them into trouble. _The stunts they make the loser do are all embarrassing and public. And Mother and Father don't have the money to pay. Heck, I doubt Uncle Nathan has that kind of money. Please, God, let this be a song that I know! I'm begging you here. _Thankfully it was a song that I knew. As the beginning began I thought: _now all I have to do is follow the steps. Great. _I then began to sing along quietly; knowing I had to get the timing right.

_Oh yeah_

_Oh yeah_

_Oh yeah_

_I'm an angel with a shotgun shotgun shotgun_

_Angel with a shotgun shotgun shotgun_

As soon as I heard the click in the background, I was in my zone and following the steps that zipped across the stage.

_Get out your guns_

_Battle's begun_

_Are you a saint or a sinner?_

For a second, I thought there were fiery lights in the sky. Almost as there were explosions in the distance; however, the moment I moved they disappeared and the city's lights replaced the stars themselves.

_If loves a fight_

_Then I shall die_

_With my heart on a trigger_

For a strange second, I thought I felt a weight in my hand like I was holding something and my index was curved. Then, just as suddenly as it had happened, the feeling disappeared.

_They say before you start a war_

_You better know what you're fighting for_

_Well baby you are all that I adore _

_If love is what you need a soldier I will be_

As I blinked, the world darkened and instead of a crowd, there was a small girl with sand brown hair and a boy with brown hair and familiar green eyes. They quickly disappeared just as I had jumped in the air and bent my knees slightly before stomping as I landed.

_I'm an angel with a shotgun_

_Fighting till the war's won_

_I don't care if heaven won't take me back_

As I did a spin, with my back towards the crowd, the background lights flashed in my face and instead of the band I thought I saw a catwalk with a bunch of people on it. The light itself was blinding so I didn't give much thought to it as I finished the spin.

_I'll throw away my faith babe _

_Just to keep you safe_

_Don't you know you're everything I have_

The little girl once again replaced the crowd. This time she was older and by herself.

_And I wanna live not just survive_

_Tonight_

When the stage lights shot towards the darkening sky, I thought I saw fireworks going off.

_Sometimes to win _

_You've got to sin_

_Don't mean I'm not a believer_

_And Major Tom_

A man with blonde hair and light purple eyes appeared the moment a stage light fell on a section of the crowd but disappeared as soon as the light moved away. I mentally chastised myself for becoming distracted as I nearly missed a step.

_Will sing along_

_Yeah they still say I'm a dreamer_

_They say before you start a war_

_You better know what you're fighting for_

_Well baby you are all that I adore_

The face I saw next made my heart beat faster with fear and gave me…weird…chills running up and down my spine. It was the face of the brown haired boy. This time he was older but he no longer had innocent, cheerful eyes. No, this time he had cold, hard ones yet…I still felt…_something_ for him; something other than fear. Something special.

_If love is what you need_

_A soldier I will be_

_I'm an angel with a shotgun_

_Fighting till the war's won_

_I don't care if heaven won't take me back_

_I'll throw away my faith babe just to keep you safe_

When I reached out my arm to the crowd that was going nuts, I saw an older version of the girl but this time she was in a wheelchair and had a rope tied around her. I almost tripped over my own feet when I realized she was never there.

_Don't you know you're everything I have_

_And I wanna live not just survive_

_Tonight_

_Ohh ohh whoa whoa_

_Ohh ohh whoa whoa_

_Ohh ohh whoa whoa_

I could hear the background music playing the words "_I'm an angel with a shotgun" _repeatedly.

_Ohh ohh whoa whoa_

I then proceeded to sing in my deepest voice possible…which wasn't very deep compared to Father's…or any male that I have heard for that matter.

_I'm an angel with a shotgun_

_Fighting till the war's one_

_I don't care if heaven won't take me baaaaack_

At the small pause, I saw the girl. This time she was sitting in a wheelchair that reeked of money and a pink dress with her bluish purple eyes wide open. And she was right in front of me. She was so close that I saw something in her eyes that shocked me for a second. I saw my real hair; all black and it had the same feathery style to it. I saw my eyes; a purple that was deep enough to be called amethyst_. I am wearing my wig and contacts on right?_ I thought to myself. As I moved into place, the girl once again disappeared and, as I looked down, I saw my reflection on the floor and saw that I still had on my disguise.

_I'm an angel with a shotgun!_

_Fighting till the war's won!_

_I don't care if heaven won't take me back!_

_I'll throw away my faith babe!_

_Just to keep you safe!_

_Don't you know you're everything I have!_

_And I want to live not just survive!_

_And I'm gonna hide hide hide my wings tonight_

As I sung this, I saw a figure with a mask. As I stared at the figure's mask, I noticed my reflection stare back at me from the purple center. It felt like…it was no coincident that I saw my own face there. I didn't pay much attention since I believed it was just another hallucination or mirage or whatever. I was right because it soon disappeared; like all the other faces before it. I then began to bring down my pitch and start singing slowly.

_They say before you start a war…_

_You better know what you're fighting for…_

_Well baby you are all that I adore…_

_If love is what you need…_

_A soldier I will be…_

As I closed my eyes at the end of the song and listened to the very loud, excited screams of the crowd and the hostess that was trying to make her voice heard, I gave a smile to the image of the boy and girl, both young and the girl blind, sitting together on the familiar wooden floor of the storehouse near our home. They were smiling at each other happily. Then, surprisingly, the children turned their faces towards me and, to a certain degree, showed their slightly surprised faces before they smiled once again. It almost seemed like their smiles got brighter when they noticed I was there. The scene before me then proceeded to fade away and I was left in the darkness that my eyelids gave before I opened up my eyes to the lights and sounds images of the real world.

As soon as I came face to face with Father, I bent my head and held out the wad of cash that was given to me as my "prize" to him (the busty blonde was quite surprised when she found out that I wasn't the "awesome' Kozuki, whoever he may be). I started getting quite nervous when Father didn't say or do anything. When I took a chance and looked up, I was surprised to see him look at me with a kind of sad face. Even Mother looked confused.

"Father?" I tentatively asked as I put my arm down, cash still in hand. All was silent between us three until a sigh escaped Father.

"You know Claude, Rachel you too. There…there's a reason why I kept you two in that house for so long. Why I taught you how to use a knife and gun even though you two hate violence. Why I had Nathan setup that alarm system. It is to protect you both. To protect my family. And then I just wake up to find a note saying you guys left?"

_**~Earlier that day (John's POV)~**_

_John rapidly blinked his eyes open as the sun filtered through the window. It felt like his eyelids were being roasted._ _"Rachel. Honey can you close the curtains? Rachel?" He quickly sat up and looked around the silent room._

"_Rachel!?" John jumped out of bed when no one answered and ran down the hall to Claude's room. Clean. Not even a trace of dust anywhere._

"_Rachel! Claude! Suzie-chan! Anyone!?" His face showed pure terror by the time he reached the kitchen. Fear was then replaced by rage at the sight of the small pink note hanging on the huge refrigerator. _

_Dear John, __**I WISH WE COULD TALK ABOUT LION KING INSTEAD**_

_I hope you slept well! I just wanted you to not worry if you can't find us. I wanted to take Claude out today. I wanted him to see the outside world since I could not wait till his birthday. I hope you can understand and forgive us by the time we come home. I made sure to bring some Maize, two Tasers, two guns with extra ammo and five hundred dollars worth of Britannian money. Don't worry. We'll see you soon._

_With Love, Rachel_

_After reading the note, there was a small dent on the fridge door._

_**~Present (Claude's POV)~ **_

After hearing that, I barely realized how he must have felt. In fact he looked like shi-I mean poop. "I-I'm sorry Father." I saw Mother wrap her hands around Father's.

"I'm sorry too, John. I just-I just couldn't wait! I mean the anticipation was killing me!"

Father gave a small exasperated sigh before giving us a small smile. "All is forgiven. Now let's just finish this damned concert so we can just go home." Mother and I gave each other wide grins. For once, Suzie-chan gave Father a happy bark. I started to walk away from them.

"Well, what are you waiting for? Let's go find some space near the stage! I don't know about you guys but I want to sit down without being crushed by other people!" They quickly followed me to the area where people were sitting or lying down. After I had sat down, Mother plopped down next to me and had Father's hand in her lap. Suzie-chan settled down beside me; slightly leaning towards me. We watched as other people tried to outdo me but they were obviously out-classed. Not that I'm arrogant or anything.

After a few more songs were played, the hostess started to say something that caught my attention.

"WE ALL KNOW THAT TODAY IS A SPECIAL DAY. TODAY IS A DAY THAT THE ENTIRE WORLD CELEBRATES, BUT TOKYO-NO JAPAN-IS THE ONE IT MOST AFFECTS. FOR US, IT MEANS MORE THAN A DAY OFF FROM WORK. TODAY MEANS MORE THAN PARTYING TILL THE DAWN OR BUYING YOUR CHILDREN THE NEWEST IN CLOTHING STYLE OR TOYS OR PHONES. NO, WE TAKE OUR CHILDREN TO PLACES LIKE KYUUSHU, BABEL TOWER, MT. FUJI AND NARITA TO TRY TO GET THEM TO UNDERSTAND THAT WHAT THEY HAVE NOW IS A BLESSING COMPARED TO WHAT WAS HAPPENING SEVENTEEN YEARS AGO. SO WE CAN ALL REMEMBER WHAT TODAY TRULY MEANS - WHAT ZERO DAY TRULY MEANS TO US ALL."

The hostess quickly moved off the stage as well as the band who had removed their instruments during the small speech. Though what got me annoyed was the fact that Father and Mother wanted to leave. Now.

"Claude, honey, please can we just go home? Your Father is feeling tired and I still need to…need to clean! And Suzie-chan needs to take a bath before it gets too late. Claude!" My mother started to shake me so I got up.

"Alright, Mother. Just start making your way through the crowd, I'll be there soon." I quickly moved through the crowd that was making its way closer to the stage; some people stepping on the hands or feet of the ones who had been sitting or lying down on the floor.

"Claude! Come back!" I heard Father yell out to me, but it was too late. The video was playing.

It looked like a camera was rolling up a figure in white. And the figure started to say "_ATTENTION ENTIRE WORLD! HERE MY PROCLAMATION! I AM LELOUCH VI BRITANNIA, EMPEROR OF THE HOLY BRITANNIAN EMPIRE AND YOUR ONLY RULER!"_ The camera finally reached the tyrant's face. And I was surprised to see my own. The figure was standing on a floor that had a map of the entire world, and there was less than ten people with him. He wore some weird, white robes. (Actually, now that I think about it, they make him seem more like an emperor). And he had my face. Same hair style, hair color, eye color, and facial structure as me. And it left me paralyzed.

"_SCHNEIZEL HAS SURRENDERED TO ME. AS A RESULT OF THIS, I AM NOW IN CONTROL OF BOTH THE DAMOCLES AND THE F.L.E.I.J.A. WEAPONS. AND EVEN THE BLACK KNIGHTS NO LONGER POSSES THE STRENGTH TO OPPOSE ME NOW. IF ANYONE DARES TO RESIST MY SUPREME AUTHORITY, THEY SHALL KNOW THE DEVASTATING POWER OF THE F.L.E.I.J.A.s. THOSE WHO COULD CHALLENGE MY MILITARY RULE NO LONGER EXIST. YES. FROM THIS DAY. FROM THIS MOMENT FORWARD. THE WORLD BELONGS TO ME."_

I stood with my mouth open. I just saw myself become the emperor of the whole world. A tyrant. _"LELOUCH VI BRITANNIA COMANDS YOU. OBEY ME SUBJECTS. OBEY ME WORLD!" _I simply could not move. Not after seeing that. So the only thing I could do was watch as the video continued to roll; the yells of "_ALL HAIL LELOUCH!"_ fading away. This time, the screen showed an aerial view of the street with people that were lined up at the sidewalks. Some weird robot machines were in front of four cars. Two of them were lined up on the side, and had people in white jumpsuits cuffed to some weird metal boards that stood up from the rest of the car. A smaller one had a man with teal hair and wore a mask over one eye. The last was easily the biggest. It would have been all white had there not been that purple and blue walkway that reached up to the white robed figure. To Lelouch. To…me.

Then, suddenly, you could start hearing people say one word, _"Zero."_ The camera quickly turned, zoomed out a bit and showed a masked figure at the end of the street. When the masked man started running, I realized that that was the masked man I had saw on the stage when I was singing. I saw as the machines started shooting at him my heart wanted me to yell out "_don't hurt him,"_ while my head reminded me that this was just a video and that they wouldn't show anything inappropriate for children.

Thankfully the masked man, this "Zero" as everyone called him, was not hit by a single bullet. Then for some reason the machines stopped firing and the teal haired man charged Zero. For some reason, I knew that he wouldn't get hurt and that the teal haired man would fail in killing him. Just as I had predicted, Zero surprisingly jumps up and off the teal haired man's shoulder and on to the very bottom of the white car next to the girl with sandy brown hair, her eyes wide open, before taking one giant leap onto the very top of the car and in front of Lelouch. Lelouch rose up, drew out his concealed gun, and started to say _"Impudent fool-"_before he was cut off by Zero and the pink sword he drew out. Zero then drew back a bit and…aligned his sword? I then figured out what was about to happen. _No…please don't…please…not after all that…_ sadly my mental pleading was left unheard.

The black cape went flying as I watched Zero thrust the sword through Lelouch, through me, and out his-my back. And then everyone was silent. The crowd I was in and the crowd in the video. Not even a baby was crying. I felt extreme pain in both my upper abdominal and in my heart. Oh god it hurt so much. It hurt so much that tears fell from my eyes. I continued to watch the video as Zero kept Lelouch from collapsing. They seemed to have exchanged unknown words as Lelouch raised his bloodied fingers towards the mask and marked it with his blood. I realized that Lelouch started to smile and understood the fact that he was giving the masked man some sort of "blessing."

Then, dramatically, Zero pulled out his sword and I watched myself walk forward and fall head over heels down the ramp and next to the girl with sandy brown hair and beautiful eyes.

When she started screaming, I knew that the me on that car was dead. As everyone around me started chanting "ZERO!" I turned around and face my father and mother. My eyes were probably wide and filled with fear.

The moment I felt Suzie-chan nudge my limp hand and heard her give a small whimper, I bolted. I could hear my parents yell out my name as the sound drowned in the cheers for Zero. I ran pushing and shoving through the crowd; following the path that I took with Mother when we first came to this damned park. Running away from the people who could probably tell me the truth. The truth I did not want to hear. Suddenly I understood why they did not want me out in the world at all.

When I finally did stop running, I was in a dark alley; maybe a few blocks away from the park. I had a hand on one of the walls as walked through the alley. Or at least I was until I was violently shoved against the wall. "Ah!"

Even though I had my eyes shut because of the pain, I knew that my attacker was a male because of the rather large hands holding me against the wall. When he spoke I could feel the heat of his breath against my face and the smell of alcohol left me dizzy for a bit. "Did you think you could get away from me, you bastard!? After sleeping with my girl!?"

_Great another misunderstanding._ "I'm sorry sir, but I don't know what you're talking about. I don't even know you!"

As the drunk slammed me back against the wall I realized that that was the wrong thing to say. Now I was starting to get nervous.

"Don't you lie to me you, son of a bitch!" Now that ticked me off.

"Hey don't you dare call my mom that-that-that vulgar word! She is an honest woman!" _Somewhat._ The brute looked a bit shocked at my outburst but then proceeded to back hand me. Hard.

"Getting a little mouthy aren't we? Maybe I'll have to teach you a lesson." I was completely and utterly disgusted when he started to caress my face. "The thing is, your face is too pretty to mess up." I then proceeded to show my anger. I spit in his face.

"That's it!" he shoved me to the ground and held both of my arms above my head. I didn't realize what he was about to do until he started to try and open my pants. _Oh my Go-_ I started screaming.

"Somebody! Please help me! Help!" I started bucking, trying to get him off but then he moved in between my legs. "Someone please! Help! Anybody!"

When he was done opening up my pants he slid his cold hand under my shirt and up to my waist. I started begging him. "Please don't do this. You're just confused. Just tell me your address and I'll make sure you get home safely. Just please, get off-" he slammed me back against the ground before grinning at me.

He started to say "I don't think so" but was quickly cut off with a foot in his face. I watched as he collided with a sickening crunch against a wall. When I looked up at my savior I was surprised to see a man around his early twenties with his long black hair tied up in a ponytail. His greyish blue eyes held complete and utter rage as he stared at the (now) unconscious drunk. When he did look back at me he stared for a bit, a slow blush spreading across his face before he quickly averted his eyes. When he spoke his voice was deep but I could tell it held warmth. "You…you might want to fix yourself. I-I'm not sure if that is how you want to walk around."

At first I was confused, but when he pointed and said "Look down," I understood completely. My legs were still open, my jeans were half way down (showing that I had briefs), my t-shirt was up to my upper abdominal, and my hoodie was halfway down my arms. My hair was probably a mess. I gave a "manly" yelp before I tried to cover myself.

I was too busy trying to make myself presentable to notice that he was looking at me from the corner of his eyes. Well that was until he suddenly grabbed me and pushed me back up against the wall. _Oh God, please don't tell me he is another pervert!_

He looked me in the eyes and said "You're Him."

"…Huh?"

When he raised his hand, I flinched, but, instead of hitting me, he held a piece of my hair. My black hair. My _real_ hair.

I gasped when something caught my eye. My wig was in a puddle of water; it looked like a drowned rat. I tried to push the mysterious stranger away but he was stronger than me.

"Let me go! Let! Me! Go!" I was surprised when he actually listened to me. And apologized.

"I am so sorry for my roughness, I was merely excited. You're Him!" He looked like a kid on Christmas. Even though I enjoyed watching him jump around a bit, I was getting a bit antsy since he never explained by what he meant by "Him."

"Um, sorry, but do I know you?"

"Oh…no! No you don't know me! My name is J.J. and I-"

J.J. never did finish his sentence because a nearby explosion threw us to the ground. Right before I was knocked out I noticed J.J. had his arms wrapped around me.

**~Omniscient~ DUMBO**

_Somewhere in Germany_

"So, how long do you plan to remain hidden, C.C.?"

The black haired waitress set down the tenth bowl of Eintopf* in front of the jade green haired immortal. Even though she was on the job, C.C. sat down with a sigh in the empty seat across the grey eyed male. G.G. continued. "I mean, they are getting desperate. My source tells me that they are gonna do something. Something big." That caught C.C.'s attention.

"What do you mean 'big?'" her eyes narrowed. "How big?"

G.G. observed the immortal witch, carefully noting everything he could before finally answering with "I don't know.

"All I know is that they want to either exterminate whatever is bothering us or flush it out. How they plan to do that, I have no idea. All I know is that they are doing soon. The air feels like it's buzzing with their excitement." The pinkette shrugged before digging into his meal.

"So you have noticed as well? Though I must ask, are you going to join our 'siblings' or stand against them?" the cat-eyed girl asked all the while playing with her fake black hair.

Her customer raised one of his eyebrows. "You still consider them siblings? You do realize the only reason we call each other that, is because of our codes right?"

The witch was about to reply but then she screamed out, her code lighting up. The male she was talking to stood up to help her before he fell into extreme pain as well. All of the people in the pub were calm enough to realize that they needed help, not panic so they quickly called the nearby hospital. Well, they weren't panicking until they saw the global news channel change into an emergency broadcast.

…

_Somewhere in Britannia_

"Hey Cecile, don't you think we're…" the black haired girl yawned, "done here?"

Cecile turned her sleepy gray eyes to Mariel. "Yeah, I think you're right. Why don't you go to the break room and get our stuff while I make sure everything is off here? That way we don't have to lose too much time."

The honey eyed woman yawned again before saying, "Sounds like a plan. I'll be back soon." She left before Cecile can answer.

After making sure all the knightmares in the hangar were powered down and all the testing machines were off. Just as she turned to leave the room and meet up with Mariel, Cecile heard a familiar whirring sound. When she turned around, she was met with a near impossible sight. The knightmares were activated. She turned to look at the key box right next to the door. All keys were present. She stared in all as the machines lit up shaking and trembling. The moment she heard a snapping sound and saw one of the wires that had been attached to one of the knightmare frames waving around in the air she knew she had to do something quick. She ran to the control panels and hit the button that activated the Emergency Gefjun Disturber. She started to get scared when the active knightmare frames did not falter. In fact the knighmares seemed to fight against the disturbers, but after some time, to Cecile's relief, they fell silent once more. Since they were still activated she was on edge. So when Mariel burst into the room, she nearly jumped a foot in the air.

"Cecile! Cecile! Come qui-what happened here?" the honey eyed woman stared curiously at the knightmares around them.

"They-they just activated themselves! So I had to activate the E.G.F."

"Oh! Cecile! Come on! You have to see this!" Mariel pulled and pushed Cecile into the Break Room then pushed the volume button as high as it could go.

Cecile watched with a hand over her mouth and tears in her eyes. Several of the world's largest cities…

_Somewhere in Britannia_

"And that concludes this meeting of the UFN. I hope you all have a safe trip home" Lady Kaguya Sumeragi concluded the meeting by bowing her head slightly and stepping down the large podium. As the leaders of the world left the room many were saying their goodbyes to Zero. Soon, the only people in the room were Zero, the Britannian Prime Minister Schneizel el Britannia, the 98th Empress of The Holy Britannian Empire Nunnally vi Britannia, Empress of the Chinese Federation Tianzi and Chairwoman of the U.F.N. Supreme Council Lady Kaguya Sumeragi.

Lady Sumeragi was the first to break the rather awkward silence, her green eyes darting across to each face and mask. "So…what do you think about the Loyalists? Do you think they'll go for war?"

Empress Nunnally was the first to speak. "No. I think they'll take our offer of peace. They don't have the forces for war-"

"I must disagree with you on that point Empress Nunnally. I believe that they are getting some sort of help. Like you said, they don't have the forces for war themselves, but if they get help from an outside source then that'll change the game completely," Zero interrupted. The Britannian Empress narrowed her eyes as she stared at the masked man.

Or at least she was until Schneizel butted in. "I am sorry your highness, but I must agree with Master Zero on this point. We must think of every possible possibility and I believe that the idea of the Loyalists starting a war has a higher chance of becoming reality than the idea that they give up and cease their rebellious activities." Now the empress was outright glaring at both her elder brother and "hero."

She would have probably started an outright argument if Lady Kaguya hadn't interrupted her…again.

"I am siding with Empress Nunnally on this. We must have faith that the Loyalists will do the right thing."

Tianzi finally spoke up by saying "I too agree with Nunnally. Not everyone will believe that they are fighting for justice. People know how to tell the difference between right and wrong."

Zero suddenly turned and started to walk out the door. Before he was completely gone he turned his head slightly to show that he was addressing the three leaders and prime minister. "Don't forget, Empress Nunnally, Lady Kaguya, Empress Tianzi, the Loyalists believe that what they are doing is right and that we are the evil ones here. Believing that your side is the one that is completely just is what will lead to events similar to the Zero Requiem. Just as he was about to leave the room started to shake. As soon as it had started, Nunnally, Schneizel, and Zero felt faint. The whole world seemed to be spinning and they had to hold themselves against something in order to keep themselves from falling to the floor. As soon as the shaking stopped Schneizel's personal assistant came running in; his breathing irregular and he had a crazed look in his eyes. Schneizel immediately reaches out to his assistant as if to calm him but the blue eyed male subtly moved away as if he was trying to regain his balance. Schneizel el Britannia was rejected. Again. To keep the situation from becoming awkward, Zero took command.

"Kanon. What's going on?"

Kanon Maldini quickly turned to face the masked man. "Lord Zero…hah hah… all the—all the—all the–the major cit-ies of the—of the—the world…include—including here…"

Zero had enough so he walked up to Kanon and slapped him straight across the face. "Get a hold of yourself and tell me what's going on!" Out of the corner of his eye, Zero saw Schneizel clench his fist and the red rings around his eyes appeared. He internally smirked.

After taking a deep breath, Kanon was once again the professional they all knew him to be. "I am sorry for my panic Master Zero, Tianzi, Lady Kaguya, Empress Nunnally." He nodded to each leader as he said their names. Except Schneizel. "It seems that ten major cities in the world have been attacked. Including here. I was sent to come and take you all to your assigned hideouts and you, Master Zero, to your own Knightmare to escape to…well wherever you go to in situations like this." It was a well-known fact that no one knew where Zero's hideout was. Not even the top Black Knight Leaders.

Lady Kaguya finally spoke up. "Which cities have been hit and by whom?"

Kanon looked at a clipboard he had been carrying when he ran in. Suddenly the building shook again and was followed by a boom. "I'll tell you as we head towards the emergency hangars."

Zero swiftly walked toward Nunnally and gracefully swept her out of her chair and into his arms. "Sounds good. Let's go." And then they were off.

"Alright—hah—well these are the only cities that have been confirmed because they contacted us or we have a platoon of Black Knights stationed there."

"Okay, now tell me which cities." Zero was really irritated.

"Well in order of the distress calls: First it was the Vermillion Forbidden City in The Chinese Federation; the second call came from Shanghai that is also in the Chinese Federation. The third was from London in the E.U. The fourth distress call came from Mumbai in the Chinese Federation. The fifth came from Tokyo, Japan." At that bit of information, Zero stumbled and nearly fell after a quick exchange with Schneizel they continued on to the hangars that held their escape.

"The sixth was from New York City here in Britannia. The seventh came from Los Angeles here in Britannia. The eighth came from Yokohama, Japan and the ninth came from…well here."

Empress Tianzi then asked a pretty obvious question. "What is the tenth country?"

Right when they reached the hangar Kanon finally answered. "We had just received it when I was told to come and get you so I couldn't update my list. You'll probably get an update on the situation as soon as you reach your hideouts and that we have made sure the lines are secure. For now just please enter your respective airships."

One by one, the airships took off with their assigned passengers and destinations. Zero's airship was the last one left and it was assigned to drop off Schneizel and Kanon at their hideout.

Suddenly, just as it was about to take off, Kanon yelled "Stop! Wait for a bit I'll be right back!" and he runs out of the airship. Schneizel yelled at him "Kanon come back!" and tries to follow after him but Zero suddenly grabs him.

"Schneizel, don't worry he'll be back here in no time." And Kanon does make it back into the hangar, with Arthur swinging in his arms.

Strangely, Arthur bites and scratches Kanon until he let's go, and races up the ramp of the last airship…right when an enemy knightmare frame crashes through the wall of the hangar. And starts shooting.

Zero's airship left with a missing passenger and a heartbroken Schneizel.

…

_Somewhere else in Britannia_

Just as Jeremiah Gottwald closed the door to Anya's room, he heard a scream from inside and he once again burst in.

Anya was sitting upright and was crying her eyes out. "Anya…Anya what's wrong?" The pinkette merely shook her head. Jeremiah then tried using his Geass Canceler. It didn't stop her from crying but it calmed her enough to speak.

"People…people are dying…they're dying such horrible deaths and I can hear their screams…" Then Anya once again collapsed into a sobbing mess.

_**~Claude~DUMBO**_

I was comfortable. Well as comfortable as I could be while lying on the ground with another man's arms wrapped around me and have itchy blood drying on my face. I stared at what I could to pass time since I couldn't move. I saw buildings burning. I saw trees and people burning to black. What fascinated me the most was the sky. It was black from the smoke but from time to time it had red fire dancing through it. As I once again fell under the waves of sleep, I quietly recalled the dream I had earlier that same morning. How there was a scene in it that had looked a lot like what I just saw. I dreamily wondered what else from my dream would be coming true. _Will the girl in the wheel chair come rolling up to me? Will the green eyed brunette come up to me and hug me? Wait…where did that come from?_ My last thought before I fell asleep was, _so this is the new world that I have wanted to see…my whole…life….goodnight…su….aku…_I proceeded to fall into a dreamless sleep.

**~~~~~D~~~~~~~~~~~U~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~M~~~~~~^_^~~~~~~~~~~~~~~B~~~~~~~~~~~~~O~~~~~~~Comments: **

***Eintopf is a type of German broth or soup.**

**Bluewings: Hi, all you weird readers out there! I just wanted to say that if you happen to run across a strange comment, such as the word "dumbo" or "hahahaha" in random places, with this :P face or something in piglatin, please ignore it. I was being childish while teasing Nana. Peace out! ~ Bluewings**

_OUR CONVERSATION: Bluewings didn't want to put this in the story but I found our weirdness funny. Sadly all the funnier stuff was cut out (by bluewings so blame her) so I decided to leave a bunch of the dumbos in the story. She was annoyed when she found out what I was doing. To: bluewings karma's a bitch! That and I find this very funny. I like Dumbo! The first few line the normal writing is bluewings, the writing with caps are my own. AND YES. WE WERE HAVING PHILOSOPHICAL DEBATE ON ELEPHANTS AND DUMBO._

_**All elephants are dumbo, and dumbo hates mice. therefore all elephants hate NO DON'T DELETE IT! OKAY FINE REWRITE IT! that takes energy THAT AND DUMBO DOESN'T HATE MICE but haven't you ever seen those cartoons where elephants are scared of mice and jump?YEAH BUT THOSE ARE THE OTHER ELEPHANTS. THE ONES THAT MAKE FUN OF HIM yeah but since I said ALL elephants are dumbo it serves the purpose that all dumbo are elephants therefore all elephants and therefore all dumbo are scared of mice! HAH! it's philosophy deal with it. BUT THAT CAN BE USED AGAINST YOU! IF ALL ELEPHANTS ARE DUMBO AND DUMBO LIKES MICE THEN ALL ELEPHANTS LIKE MICE!okay, then dumbo likes mice… YOU LOSE EITHER WAY MUAHAHAHAHA!Nuh-uh! FINE WHATEVER! :Pwhy are we writing on here, anyway?IDK BUT NOW I WANT TO PUT THIS CONVERSATION AT THE COMMENTS AREA. NOOOOOOO… **_(here bluewings is writing in caps and I am writing normally) _**damn i thought my tears would work...IF YOU WERE 8 YEARS YOUNGER THAN ME, THEN THAT MIGHT HAVE WORKED BUT YOU AREN'T fine :PI'M TIRED….. I THINK I'M GONNA GO SLEEP...but you have to do a 12 page essay! SO? ONCE I GET IN THE MOOD I CAN FINISH IT IN AN HOUR...lucky son of a bitch. I'M NOT A BOY! AND OMG ITS ONLY 7:40…. UGHwell go to sleep so i can finish this thing and find all the dumbosOK… JUST LET ME ADD A FEW MORE DUMBOS XD BYE ...im scared**_

…**DUMBO IS GONNA STEP ON YOU go to sleep! NEVER! ITS' ONLY 7 AND I STILL GOT AN ESSAY TO WRITE. COME ONE INSPIRATION! **

Well I need to finish homework. I hope this update actually makes you guys happy. and Now

HAVE A HAPPY HALLOWEEN! REVIEW PLEASE! I WANT TO KNOW YOUR QUESTIONS AND COMMENTS!


	4. Chapter 4

**Okay, for those that will read this short A/N: there were some problems with "telling/showing" that I did not understand so most of it isn't fixed. I'm sorry if the story seems rushed but I feel like it's more of a set up for some important events in the next chapter. Some very important events. I would like to thank Bluewings for editing most of this.**

**Disclaimer: I own nada except the plot and some OCs**

**Chapter Two: Looking for Help**

_Somewhere in Britannia_

A broken mug of coffee was lying on the floor as Jeremiah Gottwald stood frozen in front of the T.V. His mouth was slightly open and his eyes were wide. When Anya walked into the living room with bags under her reddish eyes, she found him watching the news channel.

"Jeremiah, what's wrong?" when he didn't answer her, Anya turned to see what was making the fearless man, that raised her, paralyzed with shock.

Anya didn't notice the sound of her own mug joining Jeremiah's on the floor. She was too busy watching as Milly Ashford reported what was happening in Tokyo Japan and apparently cities around the world. There were pictures and video footage. All showing things that she hadn't seen in seventeen years; things she believed would never happen after He sacrificed his life.

_Tokyo Japan_

The skies of Tokyo were colored black and red from the explosions still being used. Police forces fought alongside members of the Black Knights against what they believed to be a terrorist attack. No knightmare frames were used as battles similar to this one occurred all over the world. For some strange reason, every single knightmare, whether they were used by the terrorists or by the Black Knights, was not operational. Even without the use of the robotic monsters, many civilians were caught in the crossfire. The blood of men, women, and children nearly painted the entire city while smoke, ash, and rubble covered the rest. Screams rose and fell like a demonic choir. The rest of the world only watched and hoped that the heroic Black Knights would take action; not realizing that the Black Knights themselves were in trouble as Horai Island was attacked as well. As the blood of innocent citizens was spilled on the streets of Tokyo, two males ran for their lives while holding on to each other as their pursuers chased them down those very bloody streets. One held his bleeding hand against his chest while the other covered his bleeding left eye with his hand.

_**~Claude's POV~**_

Sprinting down an alley and turning a corner, I leapt through the broken glass of an abandoned clothes store. I followed J.J. as he ducked down behind a rack of clothes right when our followers ran past the store's window. The moment we could no longer hear the voices of the frustrated, knife wielding thugs, both J.J. and I collapsed to the floor. The left side of my face was quickly being covered in blood as it fell through my fingers. There was no description for the pain that I felt. The statement "Hurt like H-E-Double-hockey-sticks" couldn't even begin to cover it. When J.J. touched my hand, I jostled it and it hurt my eye even more. I tried glaring at him but the pain made me give him a watery stare instead.

He quickly replied with: "Sorry" before he got up and moved toward the back of the store. "I'm gonna see if there is a first aid somewhere." I merely gave a small nod that helped make the pain worse.

As he moved around the back I recalled how I first got this wound.

_**~Thirty Minutes Earlier~**_

"Hey, J.J., can you please wake up?" the man still holding me only shifted a bit before asking for five more minutes. I was ready to do something so rude I felt bad just by thinking it ("Wake the heck up or I'll yell in your ear!"). Right when I was opening my big mouth, a group of guys came into the alley. From the way they were dressed and acted, I could tell they weren't here to help. I quickly lowered my head and pressed it against my savior's chest as they got closer. As they slowly passed us, they started to make stupid remarks. ("Hey, don't you think that girl is pretty cute?" I almost jumped up and killed the guy. "I mean just look at her as-" "Dude, I think that's a guy." "No way man! Only a girl can be that sexy looking!" "Who cares!? She's dead, isn't she?")

I was just about to sigh with relief when a straggler came running by. He too was about to pass us by but then fate had other plans. The straggler stepped on one of J.J.'s hands. J.J. was less than pleased with the rather rude awakening. He practically jumped up with a roar and beat the guy black and blue. Unfortunately, the rest of the gang heard Mr. Straggler's screams as he cried out for his mommy (I kid you not), and rushed to his aid. We were completely surrounded. J.J. pushed me down to the floor the moment the thugs rushed at us (minus the mommy crier). J.J. looked like he was everywhere at once. The gang members started dropping like flies. The only thing that was not helping was the fact that they did not stay down. Soon they were all up and to make matters worse, they brought out their knives. Fortunately for me, they had forgotten that I was on the floor. Unfortunately for J.J., our attackers targeted him. Though he was able to dodge most of them, one of the thugs was able to get an opening. J.J. would have had a slashed back if I hadn't stepped in. My punishment for getting in the way was that I got a slashed eye. The initial pain was so excruciating that I shrieked like a banshee.

J.J. was officially beyond pissed. So after breaking a few of their hands and/or ribs, we ran like death was on our heels. Right before we had left though, Momma's Boy decided to man up and was able to stab J.J. in the hand.

_**~Present~**_

By the time J.J. came back, I was already starting to see black spots in my vision. I felt him lightly pat my cheek.

"Hey, come on. Stay with me. I need you awake for this." I gave a small nod and sat up as far as I could. J.J. quickly came to my side and propped me up against him. He brought out a gauze from the kit that he had carried from the back.

"Okay, I need you to take deep breaths because—I'm not gonna lie—this will hurt like a bitch. When I say three I'm gonna put it on okay?"

I weakly glared at him with my remaining eye. "You shouldn't curse-"

"Three."

I then proceeded to say something that I deeply regretted afterwards. "SON OF A BITCH!" I held as still as possible as J.J. began to use medical tape to keep it the gauze over my eye. When he was done he put a hand on my shoulder. And then broke down and cried.

"I'm sorry! I should have protected you! You just should have let me take the knife! You should have just run away when you had the chance. But now you're hurt! And it's all my fault." Now he was sobbing and I was mad.

"What the heck are you talking about!? I couldn't just let you die!" I pointed to the front of the store with my eyes getting watery. "There are already plenty of people out there that are dead or dying! I need you to be added to that list! I! I just! I…I don't want to be alone…" J.J. stared at me as tears began to fall from my eyes.

"I…I don't even know where my parents are. Heck, I don't even know if they are still alive! I don't know if Suzie-chan is running around being scared or if she is being used as a GPS to find me! If you died, then…I'd be alone…so don't leave me…please don't leave. I don't want to be alone. I drew my knees up to my chest and hugged them. "Pro-promise m-e. Promise that-at you won-t leave. And that you-ll help me fin-d my paren-ts. Promise!"

J.J. simply stared at me before he gave me a smile filled with pity. He saved himself from being horribly maimed when he gave me the answer that I wanted. "I promise." I sighed with relief the moment those words left his mouth.

Then, suddenly, J.J. stood up and started heading toward a rack of clothes in the men's section of the store. "We should probably change. Unless you want to be in clothes practically dripping in blood." I slowly stood up, knowing that, if I looked down, I would see blood covering my shirt and jeans. I was reminded of something very important.

"Wait! What about your hand!" when I walked towards him, J.J. quickly moved back and waved his injured hand in front of me. Or at least it was the hand that was supposed to be injured.

"Oh don't worry, I 'm all healed up! It's a pretty good perk about being immortal I guess!"

I stayed frozen for a good five seconds before I rushed towards him. "WHAT!?"

I held his hand to the light and looked on both sides. Nothing. On the off chance I chose the wrong hand I looked over the other. Still nothing. I backed away slowly from J.J. and made sure not to trip over anything. "Alright, answer me honestly. Were you even hurt?"

J.J. looked confused and said "I don't even understand what the fuss is all about."

I gaped at him before I exploded. "What do you mean you 'don't even understand what the fuss is all about'? What the fuss is all about is the fact that your hand has completely healed even though it was practically cut in half! Normal humans need time. At least three months! Yours practically healed in ten minutes!" I watched as J.J. looked at his hand looking rather mystified.

"Hmm…you're right. That is rather odd. It usually takes at least an hour and a half to heal something like this but it only took less than half to heal." He began to pace what little room was available. I stared at him with my mouth open even though I knew I should close it. When he finally stopped pacing, J.J. turned to me and shrugged.

"I have no idea why it would heal so fast. Either way we should go before those idiots come back." J.J. reached his hand towards me but I quickly walked behind some manikins.

"Stay away from me! I don't even know who you are or what you are, but I know you're not normal and probably not safe! So just leave me alone. You can go or stay but just…go away!" J.J. sighed before he walked towards me again.

"And here you were begging me to stay with you. Look, I'm not here to hurt you in any way. I just want to help you. Heck, I like you! You're pretty innocent compared to a lot of other kids your age. So if I'm gonna help someone, I want it to be you. I don't care if you like me or not but I'll make sure that you're safe. Besides…" J.J. paused in front of me. I stood up slowly and looked at him wearily. "…you feel different." Now that threw me off.

"What!? What do you mean I feel different!?" I started to pat myself down; looking for any strange bumps or dips. I looked up when I heard J.J. start laughing.

"Like I said: you are very innocent compared to a lot of kids your age. And what I meant is that your aura feels…different. Like it stands out amongst other people's auras."

I then said something that I felt didn't fit J.J. at all.

"Idiot."

…

I had ended up changing into some baggy jeans, black running shoes and I had a blue hoodie over a black short sleeved turtle neck. J.J. had questioned my choice of attire. In return I asked him why he had chosen brown shorts, black running shoes, and a black jacket over a brown t-shirt. He said touché.

As we walked down the side walk, we noticed that the fighting has either moved to another part of the city or was coming to an end. J.J. turned towards me and started to walk backwards. "Okay Claude, I think it would be best if we head towards the nearest hospital to get that eye treated. I don't want it getting infected." I nodded and fingered the medical tape and gauzes I had stuffed into my pocket. I kept walking for a while before I realized that J.J. had said my name even though I never told him it.

"How the heck did you know my name was Claude!?" J.J. turned around and shushed me. He pushed me into the shadow of a nearby building right when some weird soldiers passed by. They wore a uniform similar to that of the Black Knights except it was in red and white.

J.J. looked around the corner before he sighed and crouched down.

"You'll need to hold your questions until we reach a place where we can stop and rest. As for your question, I know your name because I saw the picture you have in your back pocket." I stared at him before I quickly reached down into my pocket. I saw what he meant. It was a picture of me, Mother, and a puppy version of Suzie-chan. I looked at the back and noticed it had the date, and all of our names.

"Your mother is very beautiful." I nodded as I wiped away at the tears that were beginning to fall.

"Yeah she is." J.J. watched me before he gave my back a pat

"We'll find your family. I promised you remember?" I nodded once more before I stood up again.

"Okay let's get going."

_**~ Omniscient ~**_

_Kamine Island_

After making sure that everything was on and acting correctly, Zero made his way to one of the unused rooms that were carved into one of the walls of the cave that held a Thought Elevator. After he had made sure the room was locked and secured, the world's hero proceeded to shed the things that made him that hero. The helmet. The cape. The coat. The vest. Everything that made him Zero.

After all that was stripped away, a man that appeared to be in his early twenties was left. The man had the image of one that had died seventeen years ago. The same brown hair and the same green eyes. The only difference was that everything about him seemed lifeless. Even his skin tone didn't seem as vibrant as it used to be.

With a small, quiet sigh, the thirty five year old man went to the drawer beside the small, cold and empty bed. He opened the drawer and pulled out a small photo book that was titled 2010-2018.

The brunette opened the cover and began to leaf through the pictures. They were of the now famous news reporter Milly Ashford and her husband Rivalz Cardemonde. It had pictures of the cheerful girl known as Shirley Fenette and a shy (now confident) Nina Einstein. There were pictures of the girl known to the rest of the world as Princess Massacre. There were also pictures of the Black Knights' ace Kallen Kozuki alongside her husband Gino Kozuki. Pictures of Britannia's 100th empress, Nunnally vi Britannia also filled the book. After Zero finished looking through the photo book, he got on his knees in front of the drawer. He then slid his hand into the opening underneath and grabbed the book that was hidden there.

This book was simply titled with the kanji for Lulu. Inside it, there were all kinds of pictures of the Demon Emperor. Some were him with Lelouch. Other pictures depicted Lelouch being hugged randomly and his surprised face. There were images of Lelouch in normal clothes and others in the clothes of an emperor. The closer it got to the end, the more pictures there were of Lelouch as a child along with Empress Nunnally.

By the end of this book, tears were freely flowing down Zero's face. Zero felt glad that no one was able to see this side of him. All because he had to live up to the expectations of being Zero. Zero didn't cry over the dead. Zero didn't have emotions or memories. Zero only existed to give people hope and to give them a push in the right direction. Yet, all that this Zero wanted to do was die and join those that remember him for the boy he used to be. He wanted to be with the people who understood him as Suzaku Kururugi. But those people were dead and he wasn't allowed to die. All because of a wish from someone very important to him.

…

C.C. woke up in her own bed. She looked around the room until her eyes fell on G.G.'s sleeping form. She gingerly let her feet touch the cold floor and walked over to G.G. The moment she touched him, the male immortal woke up.

"I see you're awake. How are you feeling, C.C.?" C.C. sat back down on the bed before she answered.

"I feel better than I did before I fell asleep. How did I get here anyways?" G.G. looked at her curiously.

"You don't remember?" At this, C.C. shook her head. The pink haired immortal then proceeded to tell her that he had told the people in the pub not to worry and that she only needed rest, carried her back to her apartment, put her in bed, and stayed beside her up until now. A C.C. took this information in; G.G. became the bearer of bad news.

"There is something else you should know." The pinkette stood up from his seat and walked toward the small TV in the room. The moment it turned on the news channel flashed and the horrible news was delivered. C.C. quickly stood up and snatched the remote control from G.G.'s hand. She then began to quickly change the channel but they were all the same. They all showed that the peace Lelouch gave his life for was over and it only lasted seventeen years.

After watching and flipping through the channels, C.C. turned off the TV and went over to her small closet. G.G. watched as C.C. brought out three luggage bags and proceeded to start throwing in random clothes in them. When C.C.'s under garments went flying in there as well he finally asked C.C. the question he had been meaning to ask. "What are you doing?"

Without a pause, C.C. said "Packing."

"I can see that, but where are you going?" At that question, C.C. stopped and turned toward him. When she noticed that he would not leave her alone on the subject, she sat down on the bed and motioned him to do the same. She gave him a good long stare before she sighed and began by asking: "You know about the Zero Requiem right?"

When G.G. nodded, C.C. continued. "Lelouch thought that, if his sacrifice didn't last as long as he planned, there should be a backup plan just in case world peace did not last more than at least two hundred years. He asked me to—"

_**~Claude~**_

We had been running for almost an hour I heard a familiar sound. "J.J.! Wait!" When J.J. turned around he looked pretty annoyed.

"What now?"

Instead of answering, I scanned the area for anyone that looked familiar. That was when I was talked to the ground by something big and furry and familiar.

"SUZIE-CHAN!"

Suzie-chan wouldn't stop licking me and, truthfully, I didn't mind. Suddenly Suzie-chan was yanked off me and I saw J.J. glaring at Suzie-chan while she was growling at him. I was about to get right in between then when I heard a kid's voice saying "DOGGY!"

Suzie-chan stopped growling at J.J. and ran off in the direction of the voices. At the corner, she nearly crashed into two kids; one was a boy and the other was a girl. As I walked toward the little group I took in the kids' appearances. The eldest was a girl, probably around ten and had pink hair that went down to her shoulders. She had a unique looking set of bangs that were off to one side of her face. Her eyes seemed to be blue violet in color and she wore a torn orange dress. The boy had hair that was a sandy brown and his eye color was similar to my own except a bit brighter. He looked to be around seven years old and wore dirty yellow shorts with a long sleeved white shirt that had a dirty baby blue jacket over it.

When they finally noticed that they weren't alone they quickly hid behind the corner they had just turned. I knew they were still there because Suzie-chan was still sitting there with her tail wagging.

"Hey there! I promise we won't hurt you." When they didn't answer I tried a different approach.

"I see you found Suzie-chan. I hope she didn't cause too much trouble." That did it. The girl poked her head around the corner and talked back to me.

"Her name is Suzie-chan?" the little girl then slowly walked out from their "hiding" place and towards me. I smiled kindly at her.

"Yeah, she's mine." The little girl suddenly glared at me.

"How do I know you're not lying?" I stared at her in surprise before I let out a breathless chuckle. I then reached into my back pocket and held out the picture. The little girl stared wearily at me before she took the picture and scrutinized it.

She then handed it back to me and said "I believe you. So what's your name? Mine's Mia. And the boy over there," Mia pointed to the little boy that was slowly inching away from around the corner, "is Toketsu*. He's a friend of mine."

I looked towards Toketsu and held out my hand. "Hello Toketsu, Mia. My name's Claude and that bozo behind me," I pointed towards J.J., "is called J.J." I then noticed something.

"Are you guys alone?" It was apparently the wrong question because Mia and Toketsu immediately backed up and looked ready to run. Mia was the one to answer me.

"Why do you want to know?" Out of the corner of my eye I noticed Toketsu had a small pocket knife in his hand. If I didn't fix this then things will go south very quickly.

"I just wanted to know because you guys shouldn't be alone. And we were going to find help at a hospital so if you guys needed help with anything…so…yeah..." I finished weakly. Mia and Toketsu stayed staring at me and J.J. for a while before they nodded.

Mia then said "Okay I believe you and that's only cause Suzie-chan trusts you. That and you guys are too stupid to survive without us. You guys were heading in the wrong direction. It's that way." Mia pointed in the opposite direction and I turned to glare at J.J.

"What!? I thought we were going the right way!" after giving J.J. a final glare I turned to the kids.

"Alright lead the way."

After a good half hour, I asked a question that had been bugging me a while now.

"So, are you guys looking for someone?" Toketsu slowed down a bit and started to walk alongside me.

"I'm looking for my big sister. She's a member of the Black Knight's and is married to Tohdoh. Her name is Nagisa. Mia is looking for her big brother, Shane and her parents. Her mom's a nurse so we were heading to the hospital anyways." I was a bit shocked to hear that the kid's sister was a member of the Black Knights. I remembered the video I had seen yesterday. The reason for Zero day. I was too deep in thought that I didn't hear Toketsu ask me a question of his own.

"Hm? I'm sorry I was thinking. What was your question?" Toketsu gave a small laugh before he repeated his question.

"Are you guys looking for someone?" Even though I knew he didn't mean it to, that question still hurt.

"Yes. Well, I am. I don't know about J.J." When I realized that Toketsu expected me to explain I merely sighed and did so. "I'm looking for my parents. I lost them when this all started." I made a sweeping motion with my hand to show that the chaos is what I had lost them in.

"Do you think you'll find them again?" I looked at the little boy that had gotten closer to me than I had realized. I smiled down to him.

"Of course!"

**Comments:**

***Toketsu means "frozen" in Japanese. And Mia is a part of one Code Geass character's name. . Hopefully this gives you a clue on who they are. **


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